Chapter Thirteen does not strictly need a write-up since it mostly consists of a series of cutscenes and dialogue segments. But still, for the sake of my claim to completeness I am obliged to post the sixteenth and final part of my walkthrough. So here we go... the end of Siege of Dragonspear!

B a l d u r ' s G a t e — R e v i s i t e d

A cutscene fires showing armed guards escorting you through the city streets, lined by jeering crowds.

F l a m i n g F i s t H Q — T h e T r i a l

There is a cut to a hearing taking place on the streets outside the Flaming Fist H.Q. Evidence against Charname is heard from expedition members and Bence Duncan. In turn, evidence you are able to give in your defense depends on how you approached certain aspects of the campaign. I was able to give four of five pieces of evidence that related to my good deeds and heroism (the thread simply didn't present the fifth option after I gave the fourth, but it's no biggie).

Entar Silvershield (Skie's father) interrupts proceedings to accuse Charname of murder; after which, he is escorted to his estate.

Belt ends proceedings at this point, revealing to Charname that Skie's soul is trapped within an artifact known as the Soultaker dagger.

F l a m i n g F i s t H Q — P r i s o n

(AR BD:0104)

Charname is taken into custody and placed under lock and key. Corwin may visit you before the Hooded Man once again graces you with his presence...

I thought this artifact was already broken in the climactic events of Tales of the Sword Coast (see here), but whatevs: I guess artifacts are not so rare, afterall...

Anyway, Irenicus commands you to awaken. For some reason it annoyed me that it is written and voiced as "awake", but I'm not sure if it really is incorrect grammar..

So, Charname did not murder Skie.

F l e e i n g B a l d u r ' s G a t e

How events unfold here depends on what happened during the trial. There are two variations.

Variation One: If you gave four pieces of evidence supportive of your good character then Duke Belt himself will spring you from the clink.

Then, one of his mercs will lead you down a trapdoor to the basement. Don't forget to grab your gear from one of the tables before you leave! Now, the merc will reveal a secret door in the basement leading to a passage that lets you bypass the sewers and exit the cavern to the forest. This exit is in the southwest (see map).

Variation Two: If you did NOT give evidence (or enough evidence) that supports your good character then a thief in the employ of Imoen will orchestrate a jailbreak.

You don't need to quaff the invisibility potion he gives you; what happens is, the other prisoners spot you and call out to the guards...

... but nothing comes of it because...

H Q — B a s e m e n t

(AR: BD0105)

Ok, grab your gear from the table and then drop down the trapdoor to the basement. Here the thief will reveal the same secret door to you.

—Quest: The Not So Great Escape. Head in a northeasterly direction from your starting point. A corpse in the northernmost point holds a Damp Note & Rusty Key(x=1960, y=250).

Next, head south to the waterfall where Duncan (and possibly Corwin) will catch up with you. A battlemage will throw up a ward to prevent you backtracking. Slay them if you wish but in order to escape you must jump from the top of the waterfall, down into the lake below! Wheeeeeeee! Corwin (3,000 XP, default gear), Bence Duncan (1,400 XP, Bastard Sword +1, Ring of Protection +1, Large Shield +1, Full Plate Mail), Flaming Fist Mercenary x5 (1,400 XP), Flaming Fist Battlemage (2,000 XP).

At the foot of the waterfall you will find a stash holding potions and scrolls (x=4300, y=2888). This is what the Rusty Key opens. Completed Quest: The Not So Great Escape.

Ok, head west and take the exit to the forest!

O u t l y i n g F o r e s t

(AR: BD6100)

As you emerge from the cave you will be spotted by childhood friend, Imoen! It may have just been my mood, but I got a bit of a lump in my throat when I saw Immy. It could be because I have foreknowledge of what happens to her in Shadows of Amn... plus, I did miss having her in the party during Siege. This final segment made me want to play the sequel immediately after Siege, too!

In the darkness of the night Imoen will lead you through the trees to the gathered canon party; i.e, the party that is assumed to have been with you at the time of your capture, and the ones who - with the exception of Khalid and Dynaheir - may be recruited in Chateau Irenicus, the first area of Shadows of Amn..
Anyway, after a short hike the party decides to rest...

Hey, do you feel a little... off? - Imoen.

The final cutscene fires showing the party being ambushed by thieves.... Your eyes burn as a thin acrid mist rises from the ground and envelopes you.Your mind clouds... shadowed figures strike and fade away.Your companions' cries echo in your skull, and the world around you fades to gray...

... And the credits roll...

***

So concludes this walkthrough! I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thank you for all your kind comments over its course. You may like to check the previous Parts for the many updates I have made. I may post more updates in the future, too! In the meantime check out my BG2 walkthrough announcement and some of the other walkthroughs I have written. Cheers!

In my latest run (just completed), Viconia and M'Khiin were both in my party. Viconia disbanded when I was arrested, but M'Khiin did not. I re-played the same scene several times to check, and Viconia sometimes disbanded and sometimes didn't, but M'Khiin never did.

I assume from this that there must be both a trigger factor (criterion unknown) to determine who might disband, and a random element to decide whether disbandment actually occurs.

It was a sufficient expansion overall, it did add some nice backstory to some npcs but the great downsides were the hub quests and the railroad experience.I also like to add that some "epic" battles like the bridge fort or the final assault were not so epic in my view, I felt disappointed. Maybe it's the engine limitation but still...I think that my expectations were high and the nostalgia may have a role in my review or it's just the last decade's trend on gaming industry to simplify the gameplay at the lowest (I still remember Falcon 4.0 and it's huge keyboard mapping and manual).

Games once were harder to master but funnier when achieving that knowledge, some kind of nerd thing I guess.

PS: it's a lame thing that any RPG so far rewards more the good approach than the evil one, that yourself can't be the greatest evil than the villain.

As for the expansion itself ... overall I like it. It's a good solid play. There are some minor features which are inappropriate, and some quest structuring which is uninspired, and some writing which is out-of-character, but these issues don't substantially detract from a mostly satisfying and coherent explanation of how the protagonist got from the ending situation of BG1 to the opening situation of BG2.

You can also present evidence of your evil deeds with the reasoning that you'd definitely admit you killed Skie if you'd done all of those things freely, and then Belt will still show up to bail you out.

• Anonymous users may not post comments. This is to cut out spam and insipid drive-by comments like "Love your blog!" and "You suck!", which I also consider spam. Register an account and Follow the blog if you would like to comment. Register on Google+ for a custom avatar!

• You can italicize, bold and underline portions of your text with simple HTML formatting elements. Likewise, you can include clickable hyperlinks with the basic HTML tag.

• Blog is moderated due to influx of spammers, trolls and bigots. I can spot a troll a mile off and hit it right between the eyes with fire and acid.

• Comments of a personal, political and religious nature are ignored. Comments with "isms" are ignored. Blatantly off-topic comments are ignored. Criticism of Renaissance RPGs based on degenerate current gen fads, trends and "sensibilities" are ignored.

• Remake-based comments on my Infinity Engine retrospectives don't get through the gate. This blog is about original-game narrative that has been in an authoritative state for 20 years. I don't care if a remake fixed this or broke that; I don't care who made the remake or who sanctioned it: there is only one authoritative version of a game, and that's the one released and patched by the original devs.

• Use zoom function of your browser to make the blog more readable. In Chrome, that's Ctrl and Shift and +. (And yes, I recommend that you view this blog with Chrome.)